The Kiss That Changed Everything
by Ravenclaw1991
Summary: Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, and Morgana all start a school club because of their newly discovered shared passion. Will it lead to something more important? Something changes Merlin and Arthur's friendship for the better. Merthur slash. Modern, but NOT AU. This is a terrible summary, but there is a better one inside.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is just something that came to mind and I had to write it. Lots of Merthur. Personally I thought it was stupid at first until I kept writing. It seems a bit confusing though because a lot happens. I hope at least someone likes it because I know it starts off not so great, but it gets better. **

**Basically, for a quick summary they discover they all enjoy Arthurian legends and form a school club. They think its just for fun, but it turns out to have meaning later. Its kind of a reincarnation thing, but not really. It will be explained in the story when it comes up. Its mostly about Arthur and Merlin, anything from the perspective of anyone besides those two is still _about _them.**

**Please forgive Morgana's rude and disgusting sense of humour. I hope you find it funny though. :)**

**I don't own Merlin.**

* * *

Merlin, Arthur, Gwen and Morgana were the best of friends. Well, Arthur and Morgana weren't because they were half-siblings. Arthur and Merlin were best friends while Gwen and Morgana were best friends. Gwen and Merlin were each others' second best friend. Does that make sense?

All four of them had something in common. None of them had mentioned it to the others because they figured they would find it boring. It took an all night Saturday movie marathon at Arthur and Morgana's for them to discover this one thing they all had in common.

"So, what film do you guys want to watch first?" asked Morgana.

"_Merlin_," they all said in unison.

"That is hilarious," Gwen said. "Well, not hilarious as in funny, I mean as in ironic."

"Why did you guys pick it?" Morgana asked.

"Well, I love the legends," Merlin said. "Merlin is one of my favourite fictional people."

"Really?" Arthur asked. "I love the legends too and mine is King Arthur. What about you girls?"

"Me too and mine would be Queen Guinevere," Gwen said. "Morgana?"

"I love them as well. I love this movie because Helena Bonham Carter plays me!"

"Isn't she like your favourite actress?" Arthur asked.

"Yes!" Morgana said. "She's beautiful and an amazing actress."

"Do you guys know who else likes the legends?" Merlin asked. He obviously was thinking about something.

"No, who?" Gwen asked.

"Mr. Gaius," Merlin said.

"Really? Maybe we should ask him about starting a club. Obviously it would only be us but we would get credit for starting a club and learn about something we love," Arthur said.

"Exactly why I bought it up," Merlin said.

"That is a great idea," Morgana said. "Since when were you so smart, Arthur?"

"Haha," he mocked.

Gwen and Merlin laughed at them.

They watched _Merlin_ attentively even though they had all seen it a dozen times before. After it was over with, the girls wanted to watch some sappy romance rubbish.

"Merlin, videogame marathon?" Arthur whispered.

"Yes, please," he replied. They immediately left for Arthur's room. The girls were laying on their blankets in the floor tearing up over something sad in the film that they did not care about.

"So, how did we never know that about each other?" Arthur asked as he popped a game into the Xbox.

"Know what?"

"That we were all interested in the same thing."

"Dunno, maybe because it just never came up. I would've thought it obvious if you looked in my room. I have a shite ton of books about it."

"Never noticed that. So do I though. Top shelf," he nodded at the bookcase.

Merlin walked over to it. There were a lot of books including _Avalon High, The Mists of Avalon, Le Morte D'Arthur, _and _The Once and Future Queen._

"Funny, I have most of the exact same books. Why do you like the legends so much?"

"Not sure really. I just thought they were interesting. You?"

"Same. Isn't it funny though? Four friends with the same interest in Arthurian legend and all have names associate with said legend?"

"I never really thought about it to be honest. Well, I did, but I thought it was just coincidence."

"Maybe," Merlin sighed as he and Arthur picked up the controllers and started shooting people.

The following morning, Arthur and Merlin woke up in Arthur's room. Arthur was sprawled across the bed and Merlin was slouched over a chair. Well, Arthur woke first and threw a pillow at Merlin's head.

"Prat," Merlin muttered sleepily.

They headed down to breakfast and met up with Gwen and Morgana.

"So where did you boys get off to last night?" Morgana asked.

"We left to play videogames because we had no desire to watch your mental romance film," Arthur said. Merlin nodded vigorously with a piece of toast in his mouth. "We are _men _after all. Well, I am, not sure about Merlin here."

"Hey!" Merlin bit back. "That's not funny."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot about that time we were playing football and someone kicked the ball into your crotch. You fell to the ground crying for a half hour."

"Well, it hurt! And its no worse than that skateboarding phase you had when we were thirteen. Remember when you fell on that rail?" During that particular incident, Arthur was attempting to grind or something across a railing and the skateboard slipped and the railing hit him in his you-know-whats. Merlin had to sit him on the skateboard and push him all the way home and Arthur cried the entire twenty minutes or more. He never touched a skateboard again.

"I thought we'd agreed to never speak of that again."

"Moving on gentlemen," Morgana cut in. "What are we doing today?"

"Morgana and I were going to go shopping," Gwen said.

"I don't know. Merlin, what do you want to do?"

"Um, what about..." he trailed off scratching his head.

"Oh hell, we'll just stay here and go swimming," he nodded to the pool outside the kitchen doors. It was a nice sunny day, the first in over a week. Morgana and Gwen got up and left the room.

"Arthur, I don't have anything to go swimming in."

"Go naked!" Arthur snapped.

"What?" Merlin asked turning red. "You're not serious."

"Of course not, though, its not like you have anything I've never seen before. If your that paranoid I'm sure Morgana will let you borrow one of her bikinis."

"ARTHUR," Morgana screamed from the hall. "That is not funny, stop picking on Merlin."

"Alright, alright," Arthur said, "I suppose I can let you borrow something of mine, though I should make you go swimming naked just because Morgana told me to stop picking on you."

"You wouldn't dare," Merlin glared.

"Arthur, if you want to see Merlin naked, you should just ask instead of teasing him," Morgana smirked, peeking around the corner. Apparently she and Gwen were still in the hall listening listening to everything Arthur and Merlin said. "Oh, I'm sorry you already have. Back when you were twelve and I walked in on you-"

"MORGANA!" both Merlin and Arthur shouted. Both of them were as red as a tomato. They heard something hit the floor in the fall and both ran to see Gwen laying on the floor gasping for breath.

"Gwen! Are you okay?" Morgana said shaking with laughter.

"Y-yes," she gasped. She was shaking with laughter as well. Once she finally calmed down Arthur and Merlin stalked up to Arthur's room and Gwen suggested that she and Morgana get ready to go.

"We really need to not make an enemy of her," Merlin said. "She could use that story against us."

"We were twelve! We didn't know what we were doing! Let's just forget about that, yeah? Here," Arthur threw Merlin a pair of swimming trunks from the drawer. "They're a bit small for me, so hopefully they fit you, if not, you really will have to go swimming naked."

"I believe I'd swim in my underwear before I got in a pool naked."

Five minutes later they were walking out into the sun. Arthur immediately went to the diving board and jumped in. Merlin followed but Arthur surfaced beside him and pulled him into the pool.

They wrestled a bit and Merlin swallowed water and choked on it. After that, they stuck to just swimming. They stayed in the water for about two hours before they got hungry and decided to eat lunch.

* * *

**I can here you asking "Where's the Merthur?" now. Well, don't worry, it first appears in the next chapter and it becomes more prominent. As for what Morgana walked in on Arthur and Merlin doing when they were 12, use your imagination. I'm sure you'll guess correctly.  
**

**I used the film _Merlin _were Sam Neill plays Merlin because it was the only Arthurian movie I could think of. I also used some of my interests as well. Such as Morgana saying her favourite actress is Helena Bonham Carter because she's my favo****urite.**

**And for the record, I'm a guy and I know exactly how painful it is getting hit between the legs.. So my descriptions of Merlin and Arthur crying are very accurate. Though I knew a guy that it never phased when he got hit there...**


	2. Chapter 2

**I have thrown in references to other things I like like _Doctor Who _and _Harry Potter. _:) I wrote this part after watching the_ Doctor Who_ episode 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship,' which was awesome, so I used it to add some comedy to this chapter.**

* * *

"Are you still staying tonight?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, I'll just have to call my mum to bring my school things over. I forgot them, but I won't do that until later because it gives me an excuse to not worry about my maths assignment until as late as possible."

"Good, I didn't do it either. You can do both of ours," Arthur said smiling sweetly.

"Absolutely not," Merlin said. "We will work on it together."

"Fair enough. So are we still asking Mr. Gaius about that club tomorrow?"

"I don't see why not. We'll remind the girls when they get back. They've been gone for like two hours!"

"You know Morgana. She would shop even if she were dying."

They fixed some sandwiches and sat down to watch some telly. _Doctor Who _was on and it was a rerun of the previous night's new episode.

"Dinosaurs on a Spaceship! That is a brilliant idea," Merlin said.

"It really is," Arthur laughed. "Although all I can think about is the fact that the Doctor has Mr. Weasley in the TARDIS and he's talking to Mr. Filch!"

"Yeah, and the fact that he bought Queen Nefertiti along. And that Riddell bloke was hilarious!"

They were still laughing about the "balls" scene when Gwen and Morgana came in.

Morgana observed the fact that they were still shirtless from their swim and said, "What are you laughing at? Did Merlin see your small-"

"MORGANA!" Arthur snapped. "Will you shut the hell up. Stop staying such disgusting things, its very unbecoming of you. Besides, Merlin is my best mate, I can say anything to him I want and he knows I'm just joking."

"That's true. If I took everything he's ever said seriously, I would never speak to him again." Merlin said.

"See?"

"Well, Gwen and I are best friends and you don't hear me speaking to her like that."

"That's true," Gwen said.

"Anyway, Morgana, Gwen, we were wondering if you still wanted to ask Mr. Gaius about starting that club tomorrow."

"Are you crazy? Of course we do. I think it would be fun!" Morgana said.

"Me too!" Gwen said, "And it would be a legitimate excuse to hang out more."

Gwen and Morgana joined them at the pool after eating some lunch of their own. They were sitting on the edge of the pool while Arthur and Merlin were swimming around.

When they started laughing about something stupid Arthur said, Morgana called, "Just kiss already, the waiting is kill us all." Gwen started laughing.

Merlin and Arthur looked at each other smiling and with a nod they went under the water and surfaced in front of Gwen and Morgana. Merlin pulled Morgana in while Arthur pulled Gwen in.

"If you want someone to kiss so badly, why don't you kiss each other," Arthur told Morgana.

To both Arthur and Merlin's surprise, that was exactly what they did.

"Happy now, boys?" Morgana said sweetly. "Your turn."

"Excuse us for a moment," Arthur said and he pulled Merlin to the other side of the pool. "Okay, did that just happen?"

"I'm not sure. I think so," Merlin said. "I'm almost certain of it."

"Just making sure. I wonder why she keeps bringing up things like saying I want to see you naked and wanting us to kiss."

"Well, the naked thing was your fault for your joke about me swimming naked. As for the kissing, I don't know. Maybe we should just give in and do it so she will shut up."

"You can't be serious, Merlin."

"I wish I wasn't but maybe she would actually shut up then. I'm not begging for it or anything. Just a suggestion."

"All right, but then we pretend it didn't happen, okay?"

"Yeah," Merlin nodded.

Morgana and Gwen were still watching them and wondering what they were talking about. Suddenly, they leaned close and started kissing. Both Morgana and Gwen stared gaping at the scene in front of them.

When Arthur and Merlin finally broke it off, Arthur said, "There, Morgana, happy now?"

Then Merlin said, "good, now shut up about it," without waiting for an answer. And with that they both stalked out of the pool and went into the house.

When they got up to Arthur's room, Merlin peeked out the window. Morgana and Gwen were sitting in the exact same place with their mouths still open. "Look at them." Arthur walked over and looked and laughed.

"Do you think it was a good idea?"

"Not sure, although, I don't think anyone will believe her if she told them."

A bit later, Merlin called his mum and asked her to bring his school things over. "Merlin, how the hell do you bring your school clothes but not your books and stuff?" Arthur asked.

"I was in a hurry okay? "

"Why?"

"I just was," he said avoiding a real answer.

Thirty minutes later they heard a car horn and they both went out to see Merlin's mother.

"Hello, Hunith!" Arthur said.

"How are you, Arthur dear? Is something the matter? You both seem to be acting strange."

"We're fine. Just Morgana and Gwen irritating us," Merlin told her. Hunith gave him a look and he said, "All right, Morgana is irritiating us."

"How?"

"Well..." Merlin started.

"She told us to kiss and when I told her if she wanted to see someone kiss so badly why didn't she kiss Gwen, she did," Arthur said.

Hunith opened and closed her mouth several times before finally deciding on what to say. "And did you?"

"Um," Merlin said. Both he and Arthur were red as tomatoes.. Again.

"I take that as a yes?" she asked, they nodded. "About time!"

"MUM!" Merlin shouted.

"Sorry, Merlin, but everyone can see it even if you two can't."

"We aren't _gay_," he said through gritted teeth. "Are we Arthur?"

Arthur didn't answer, he was, for some reason, mesmerised by Merlin's arse as he leaned on the car door talking to Hunith. "Sorry, what?" he snapped to attention before Merlin turned around. "Yeah, mmhmm." Sadly for him, Hunith saw what he was staring at.

"What?" Merlin asked, shocked.

"I'm sorry, what was the question again? I was thinking about something."

"I said we aren't gay, are we?"

"No. Definitely not," he said.

"See, Mum," Merlin told Hunith.

"If you say so. Anyway, here are your things, don't forget to do your homework and get to sleep at a decent time tonight! See you boys later," she winked.

"Is it me or is everyone going mental?" Merlin asked.

"I know right? First Morgana and Gwen now your mum. The only way it could get weirder is if my dad came home and said something like that."

Morgana and Gwen avoided them for the rest of the day. Both Arthur and Merlin assumed they still couldn't process what had happened earlier.

That evening, Arthur and Merlin were sitting in Arthur's bedroom floor working on their maths assignment. They were halfway finished when Arthur said,

"Merlin, I wanted to talk about earlier." He sounded quite nervous.

"Yeah? Me too."

"Well, what did you think?"

"It was good. Really good."

"Good enough to want seconds?" Arthur asked. Merlin nodded.

Next thing they knew, the textbooks and papers were all over the floor and Arthur had Merlin pinned down to the floor by his wrists and was kissing him roughly. The door opened to reveal Morgana but they were too busy to notice.

"Hey guys, I just wanted to apol-" she stopped upon noticing the scene. She slowly backed out and closed the door softly.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Gwen asked. Morgana pointed to the bedroom door and Gwen looked inside to turn around with a similar look on her face.

"I had a feeling they felt that way, but I never thought anything would ever come of it," Morgana said.

"Me too. Just do me a favour, yeah? Don't say anything to anyone. If they want to tell, they will. No sense in ruining it for them."

Merlin and Arthur remained completely oblivious to both intrusions. They eventually managed to finish the maths assignment, taking longer than it should have due to their constant distraction. Both of them ended up falling asleep in Arthur's bed.

* * *

**I literally have 40+ pages of this story written as a Word document so far, so its no where near finished. I know it seems like the... 'gayness' between Merlin and Arthur comes from nowhere after they first kiss, but it _will _be explained later. As will the reason why this club they want to start is so important.**

**And naturally Hunith IS a Merthur shipper! She, Gwen and Morgana have noticed for a while, but it took Morgana's scheming to pull it off. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A bit of language in this chapter. :) Its not too bad though, they are teenagers after all. What teenager doesn't swear every now and then?**

* * *

During the middle of the night, Morgana left a sleeping Gwen in her room and crept into Arthur's. She saw Arthur and Merlin in bed together, Arthur had his arms wrapped around Merlin. She took her camera out and took a picture of it.. For future use.

She crept back to her room and shook Gwen awake. "Guess what I just saw" she whispered.

"I hope it was something exciting like the TARDIS flying over the house or at least a dragon," Gwen mumbled. "Otherwise, I'm going to kill you when I'm fully awake."

"No, its Arthur and Merlin."

Gwen shot straight up into a sitting position. "I'm awake! Tell me more."

After showing Gwen the picture and allowing Gwen to sneak in to see it in person herself Gwen said, "By the way, what are you going to do with that picture you took?"

"Oh its just for future use."

"Morgana," Gwen glared.

"All right, I was going to use it to blackmail them if this doesn't work out how we want it to. I'm not going to show it to anyone, just threaten them with it."

"You really are evil, aren't you?" Gwen giggled.

"Yes, yes, I am. Actually, how about we force them to shower together in the morning? Imagine the possible awkwardness!"

"How?"

"I'll sabotage Arthur's alarm so they wake up late and then we occupy all of the other bathroom so they're forced to use the same one."

The Pendragon's house had six bathrooms, but only four had showers. Morgana went to change Arthur's alarm and then she and Gwen made their plans. Uther's bedroom was locked so they didn't worry about that. Morgana was going to lock herself in her bathroom while Gwen locked herself in the guest bathroom. That left Arthur and Merlin to use Arthur's, but they wouldn't have time for separate showers.

Arthur and Merlin woke up at the same time the following morning. Unfortunately it was late.

"Shit, Merlin, its late and we still need to shower before school."

"I'll use the guest room, you use yours." He grabbed his stuff and bound from the room and made it to the guest bathroom only to find it locked. He knocked.

"Sorry, Merlin! I'm busy," Gwen said.

He rushed to Morgana's only to get a similar response. "I'm doing my make up!" He didn't think about the fact that Morgana rarely wore make up.

He went back to Arthur's room to find him digging for clothes in a drawer. "Arthur, Gwen and Morgana have locked themselves in the other bathrooms."

"She is an evil witch," Arthur said. "Oh well, I guess you'll have to stink today."

"But-" Merlin frowned.

"I'm kidding, do you really think I would make you go to school without a shower. I guess we'll just have to shower together," Arthur said smiling.

"What? Really?"

"Merlin, in case you don't remember, we snogged for like ten minutes last night, and then we slept in the same bed. I'm sure its perfectably acceptable to shower together after that. And you know its not like we've never seen one another naked before."

Gwen and Morgana listened at the bedroom door. After they went into the bathroom, the girls sneaked in to listen at the bathroom door.

"They admitted to snogging last night!" Gwen whispered.

"Yeah, for ten minutes. I'm glad we did this!"

Out of fear of them all being late for school, since Arthur was going to drive them, Morgana didn't make them actually wake up late. She reset Arthur's alarm so they both thought they were late.

"Me too," Gwen said.

When they heard the water stop, Arthur and Merlin started talking. They stayed not able to resist eavesdropping.

"So, Merlin."

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to, you know, try this dating thing?"

"You're pretty shit at asking people out, you know. How did you ever get a girlfriend before?"

"I take that as a yes?" Arthur laughed.

"Of course, just one condition. If it doesn't work out, we won't let it ruin our friendship and we pretend it never happened."

"Deal," Arthur said. "I think we should see how well it goes before we tell anyone."

"All right. And we take things slow. We move on to the next step in our relationship when we're both ready." Arthur nodded.

They were getting closer to the door so Morgana and Gwen quickly and quietly fled the room. Once in the hall, they ran full speed back to Morgana's room and hugged each other and jumped around in celebration.

Gwen and Morgana were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast when Merlin and Arthur walked in with smiles on their faces.

"We'll just get something to eat out of the cupboard and we'll all head to school," Arthur announced.

"Why?" Morgana asked. "We don't have to leave for another thirty minutes."

"What?" Merlin asked, confused. "We woke up late." He and Arthur looked at the clock on the kitchen wall.

"Damn, I guess I need a new clock. The time must've changed somehow on its own," Arthur sighed.

"So, guys, is there something you want to tell us?" Gwen asked.

"No, why?" Merlin said.

"Well, it has to do with that giant, very noticeable, purple bruise on your neck, Merlin," Morgana snickered.

"WHAT?" he ran to the mirror in the lounge.

"Oh, that's nothing," Arthur said. "I accidentally hit him last night."

"Really? I might've thought it had to do with that rough, sexy snogging session you guys where having in your bedroom floor last night," Morgana laughed.

"What?" both boys asked at the same time.

"Don't play dumb," Gwen said. "First you kiss in the pool for us, then Morgana walks in on you snogging last night."

"I was going to apologise for yesterday when I came in, but there was no need," Morgana said. "You were busy."

"Then she sneaked in and saw you sleeping together and Arthur's arms were wrapped around Merlin."

"And finally, I changed your clock so you would be forced to shower together and we listened to everything you said after your shower."

"We even heard Arthur's rubbish attempt at asking you out, Merlin," Gwen said.

"I understand Morgana being evil because she was named after an evil sorceress, but Queen Guinevere was not evil! You have been around Morgana too much, Gwen," Arthur said.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with us," Morgana said. "For a small fee."

"Damn it," Arthur muttered and Merlin groaned. "What do you want?"

"For you to tell us all that happens with you two. We pushed you along, we deserve to know."

"Alright," Merlin said.

"Come upstairs with me, Merlin," Morgana said, "and I'll help you cover up that enormous purple bruise from where Arthur 'hit you.'" She laughed while dragging him from the room.

* * *

**So is Morgana really evil? xD Is Gwen or _has _she been around Morgana too long? haha.. Those aren't important questions! I hope you liked the shower idea. I don't know what made me think of it, but it was a funny way to show Morgana's evilness. **


	4. Chapter 4

**The club mentioned in the summary is created in this chapter :) There is a hidden reason behind it but it won't surface until later. **

* * *

After eating some breakfast, they piled in Arthur's car and headed for school. It was only the third week of term. The day passed relatively normal. They had chemistry as their final lesson of the day. They chose tables at the back of the room, Arthur and Merlin at one and Gwen and Morgana at the other.

The only thing that got them through Mr. Gaius' boring lesson was the fact that Arthur kept touching Merlin's leg. Gwen and Morgana, at the next table, kept "awwing" and then hushing one another up so they didn't draw attention to themselves.

After the lesson they stayed back to asked Mr. Gaius. "Mr. Gaius," Arthur said, "we want to start a club and we wondered if you'd want to be our... um, adult person." Morgana rolled her eyes at Arthur's stupidity.

"Depends on what this club is, Arthur," he said.

"Well, this weekend, sir," Merlin said, "we discovered something we all loved."

"Arthurian legends," Morgana added.

"And we know you love them as well, so we just thought.." Gwen said.

"Then why didn't you start by saying that?" Mr. Gaius asked. "Of course I would. We just need to agree on a name, a meeting time, and we will need to hang posters around letting others know."

After a little discussion, they agreed to meet on Mondays after school and that the club would be called 'King Arthur's Court' (Arthur smirked proudly at this). Mr. Gaius told them he would take it to the headmaster to have a form signed and he would let them know the following day if it was accepted.

Arthur dropped Gwen and Morgana off at Gwen's house for a bit while he went to Merlin's. It was half past three and Hunith wasn't due home until four. Their intention was to do homework, but they got.. distracted.

They were sitting in Merlin's room with their books opened. Much like the night before. They were in the middle of kissing when they were interrupted.

"Are you two sure you're not gay?" an amused voice asked.

They jumped apart and looked up to see Hunith smiling in the doorway. Merlin shouted, "mum!" while Arthur shouted, "Hunith!"

After an awkward silence, Merlin said, "I thought you weren't getting home until four."

"Honey, look at the clock." They both looked and it was already after four. "Come on you two, I'll make you some tea and we can talk about it."

Once at the kitchen table, Hunith poured them tea then asked, "So, does this mean you two are more than friends now?"

"Boyfriend," Merlin said nodding to Arthur.

"Boyfriend," Arthur confirmed.

"Finally! Well, I'm happy for you and I've waited a long time to see if this would happen. I will not treat you any different you know, like preventing you from staying the night here or at Arthur's. I trust you not to rush into anything that might ruin your friendship."

"Thank you, Hunith," Arthur smiled. "We've decided on a few things."

"Firstly, if this doesn't work out, we've already agreed that it wouldn't ruin our friendship and we will just pretend it never happened," Merlin said.

"Second, we aren't telling anyone yet until we know it will work out," Arthur said.

"You say your not telling anyone, but I take that to mean Gwen and Morgana know, right?"

They nodded. "Morgana walked in on us last night and they eavesdropped on us talking this morning," Merlin said. He omitted the shower part, his mother did _not _need to know that.

"That girl is evil, are you certain you're related to her?" Hunith asked Arthur.

"I wonder that myself," he laughed.

"You're taking this rather well," Merlin said.

"Well, I told you I've been waiting for this for a while."

"How long?" Arthur asked.

"At least two years, maybe longer. You two have always seemed closer than just friends, even though you didn't realise it."

After they finished their tea, they returned to Merlin's room and began their homework. They didn't get much done _before_ Hunith got home. Arthur stayed for dinner then headed to Gwen's to pick Morgana back up. He gave Merlin an awkward goodbye kiss before leaving. It was awkward because Hunith was in the living room smiling like a mad woman.

Merlin spent the rest of the night on the internet or watching tv. He was pretty lonely even though his mother was with him. When he went to bed that night, he couldn't get to sleep.

Meanwhile, as soon as Morgana got into the car in front of Gwen's house, she bombarded Arthur with questions.

"Soo," she began. "How did it go? What did you do? Did you guys kiss again?"

"Hello to you too, Morgana," he responded dryly. "We worked on homework mostly. And if you must know, yes we kissed again, but Hunith walked in on us."

"How did she take it?"

"Merlin and I have come to the conclusion that she has lost her mind just as you and Gwen have. She said she had been waiting a long time for us to get together like that."

"Really? Gwen and I should really have tea with her!"

"Yeah, she forced us to have tea with her while we talked about it."

"Oh, she gave you _the talk_?"

"No. Besides, we're a bit too old for that talk now, had that years ago. She said she trusted us to not rush into anything and ruin our friendship. She also knows that besides her, you and Gwen are the only ones that know."

Morgana nodded her approval and asked, "mind if I tell Gwen?"

"Why not? I know you will even if I say no."

As soon as he pulled into their driveway, Morgana bounded into the house and up to her room to call Gwen. Arthur entered the house and found his father relaxing with his feet up watching some old person show.

"Hey, dad!" he greeted as he sat down.

"Arthur," Uther said, smiling. "I trust you had a good weekend and a good day at school?"

"It was a really good weekend. We watched movies Saturday night and Merlin and I went swimming yesterday. I do think you should send Morgana to 'shoppers anonymous' though. School was great too, we started a new club and Mr. Gaius is going to help out."

"Maybe I should cut her allowance?" Uther chuckled. "What sort of club?"

"One on Arthurian legend. We all found out we share an interest in it."

"Your mother and I were interested in that as well. So were our parents. Our family had a different surname originally until my grandfather, who loved King Arthur, changed it to Pendragon."

"Really?" Arthur asked. "I should tell Merlin!"

"I'm sure he'll find that interesting. Oh, and I have some bad news, son. I have to go on another business trip this weekend. To Paris this time. Merlin can come over or you can go over to his place if you want."

Arthur hid his glee well and mocked sadness by saying, "really? Again?"

"Sadly. Be sure to tell Morgana to come down so I can tell her. She just ran upstairs without even saying hello," Uther said. "Have you already eaten?"

"Yeah, I ate with Merlin and Hunith."

He stopped by Morgana's room to tell her Uther wanted to talk to her and she was still on the phone with Gwen. Arthur went to his room to play some games, he was in the mood for the Wii tonight.

He was laying down trying to sleep but was unsuccessful. He missed Merlin. Almost as though his mind had been read, his phone rang for a text. From Merlin:_ Can't sleep. Can you? _Arthur resonded with: _Not at all._ Seconds later Merlin responded with: _video chat? _Arthur happily agreed. Moments later he was online and accepting Merlin's call.

"I miss you," both of them said at the same time.

"Well, we definitely don't keep anything to ourselves do we?" Merlin laughed.

"I guess not! We haven't even been going out for a full day and we are admitting that."

"That's why you couldn't sleep?" Merlin asked. Arthur nodded. "Me too. It feels like part of me is missing."

"That's how I feel," Arthur said. "Dad has to go to Paris this weekend. I was wondering if you wanted to stay here or for us to stay at yours?"

"I'd rather come over there. We can go swimming again."

"Sounds good to me."

They talked for about an hour before they fell asleep. They left the video chat on all night.

Meanwhile, Uther was in his office looking over the video from the outdoor security cameras. All seemed normal. Merlin and Arthur went swimming Sunday morning and then went back inside. Later Morgana and Gwen joined them and said something to make the boys pull them into the water in retaliation.

Uther choked on his tea when he saw Gwen and Morgana kiss. "Well, I did _not _see that one coming," he said to himself.

He watched as Arthur dragged Merlin to the other side of the pool where they talked. Next thing he knew, his son was kissing his best friend. "Now that does not surprise me," he chuckled. "I wonder if Hunith knows yet. I'll call her tomorrow."

Uther decided to never check the pool camera again out of fear of witnessing something much worse.

* * *

**Yeah, that's right, Uther is a Merthur shipper! :) Almost every story I've read, Uther is portrayed as a dick, like his is in the show sometimes. I wanted to portray him as caring and supportive here. You get to see a bit more of Uther in the next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Arthur and Morgana left to pick up Gwen and Merlin for school. When Merlin got in the car, he gave Arthur a good morning kiss.

"Aww," Morgana and Gwen squealed. Arthur and Merlin rolled their eyes.

"So, Morgana, I assume you told Guinevere about this weekend?" Arthur asked.

"Of course, you told Merlin right?"

"You know it. We spent all night on video chat," Arthur said.

"You stayed up all night?" Gwen asked.

"Nah," Merlin said. "We talked for a while then fell asleep. I could see Arthur sleeping when I woke up this morning."

"We should do that every night," Arthur said. Merlin nodded in agreement.

"So, Gwen and I were thinking about this weekend," Morgana started.

"You were thinking? That's new," Arthur said.

"Shut it, Arty."

"That is not my name! Call me that again and I will pull this car over and make you walk the rest of the way to school."

"Whatever, anyway, we were thinking and we're going to stay at Gwen's this weekend." Arthur and Merlin smiled at one another. "I take it you already planned on staying at the house while dad's away?"

"Of course, now we have it to ourselves," Arthur said.

"That's why we chose it. You can have a weekend alone," Gwen told them. "Plus Elyan is going on a school trip this weekend so we won't be bothering him."

* * *

During the day while they were at school, Uther picked up his phone and called Hunith.

"Hello?" she said when she answered.

"Hunith, its Uther. How are you?"

"Oh, Uther, I'm great. What about you?"

"Just a bit tired from travelling. You know I went to Amsterdam this past weekend. I have to go to Paris this weekend, but that will be the last trip for a while. Enough about me, I'm sure your wondering why I called."

"Of course, though I assume it has to do with Arthur and Merlin, correct?"

"Naturally. I was looking at my security camera footage and you will never guess what I saw them do!"

"Kiss? I know all about it. They told me Morgana told them to kiss and when Arthur sarcastically told her to kiss Gwen, she did. They kissed to get her off their back."

"Is that all it was?"

"No, definitely not. Let's say they aren't just friends anymore."

"Finally," Uther laughed. "We've been waiting for so long."

"That's what I told them. Best not let them know you know yet, don't want to freak them out. Let them tell you on their own time."

"Certainly. I was thinking about having Gwen and Merlin over for dinner, Wednesday night maybe? Maybe I can try to coax it out of them. I assume Morgana and Gwen know?"

"Do you even have to ask? Apparently Morgana walked in on them kissing and over heard Arthur asking Merlin out. I want to hear that full story," Hunith told him. "I told them that I trust them not to do anything that could ruin their friendship. So I think it will be good if they are still allowed to stay the night with each other."

"We'll have to let it play out," Uther said. "I best go, I have a bit of paper work that sadly won't do itself."

"It was nice talking to you, have a safe trip if we don't talk again before then."

After they hung up, Uther sat back in his desk chair and sighed. Finally his son had done what had been inevitable for a few years.

* * *

The day at school was rather boring and uneventful. Arthur and Merlin fought the urge to want to hold hands in the corridors. They hadn't really thought about their club anymore until Mr. Gaius told them to stay after class.

"Good news, the headmaster has approved your club, you just have to design flyers. I know you probably would prefer it to be only you, but its school policy that others have to have the chance to join. More than likely it will only be one or two other students though."

"Gwen and I will design the flyers. After all we're the artistic ones. Merlin can barely draw a stick figure and Arthur, well, lets not get into that. I've seen his artwork and I've seen babies finger paint better."

"You better shut it, Morgana or Merlin and I will tell everyone what you and Gwen did on Sunday!"

"What did I do to deserve that?" Gwen squeaked.

"Oh, yeah? Then I'll tell everyone what I caught you and Merlin doing when we were twelve."

"Hey, what did I do?" Merlin asked.

"You most certainly will not! I don't know why you came into my room that day anyway," Arthur almost shouted.

"Then maybe you should learn to lock your door like you should have Sunday night and yesterday morning! Gwen and I saw and heard everything."

"You have some nerve, Morgana."

"Well, if I had a boyfriend, I'd learn how to lock the door!"

"Well at least I have a boyfriend," he screamed in her face.

Mr. Gaius cleared his throat and looked rather uncomfortable. A teacher across the hall burst in, Mr. Monmouth, and asked what was going on. He was astounded to find Arthur and Morgana in each other's faces, both red, while Gwen and Merlin looked on in surprise, but also amusement.

Arthur grabbed Merlin by the wrist and dragged him from the room. Then he stopped at the door and say, "For what you said, Morgana, I should leave you to walk home, but I'm too nice to do that. Get your arse in the car before I really do leave you."

The ride home was very uncomfortable. Arthur followed the regular routine of stopping at Gwen's and Morgana got out only saying bye to Merlin. When they got to Merlin's, Arthur sat on Merlin's bed and put his face in his hands.

"I feel like a terrible person for yelling at Morgana like that," he told Merlin.

"Well, in your defense she has been a bit meaner than usual lately. And it was uncalled for for her to make fun of your art skills. Mine too. I know we suck but that was just mean."

"We do suck don't we?" Arthur laughed. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Morgana apologising for his outburst, when he was done he pulled Merlin on top of him and they got their distraction out of the way this time _before _starting the homework.

That evening, Morgana and Arthur had dinner with Uther.

"I want to thank you for having the balls to apologise, Arthur. I know it was wrong of me to make fun of your's and Merlin's art skills."

"Its alright, Morgana, it is true. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. Poor Mr. Gaius looked as though he was about to have a heart attack when I got in your face screaming."

"And did you see Mr. Monmouth's face when he burst into the room asking 'What's going on in here!?' It was hysterical!"

They both started laughing so hard they couldn't breath and Uther was really confused. He asked, "What's going on?" and they started laughing again.

It was five full minutes before they calmed down enough to tell him.

"I see. Well, Morgana, you should be nicer to Arthur and Merlin."

"I know. I can be mean sometimes, but I don't always mean it!"

"How about you invite Merlin and Gwen over for dinner tomorrow night. We'll have another family dinner on Thursday before I leave for Paris on Friday morning."

After going to his room, Arthur video called Merlin. Told him about the dinner invite and what happened at dinner that night. They both started laughing.

"I think we _should_ _definitely_ do this every night," Merlin said after he caught his breath.

"I agree. Even if we don't talk. Its relaxing knowing that you're right there if I want to say something."

"Exactly!" Merlin said, smiling. They talked for a while before they both fell asleep.

The following day after school instead of dropping Morgana and Gwen off at Gwen's and going to Merlin's with Merlin, they all went to Arthur and Morgana's and spent the evening there. They were working on their homework while Uther cooked dinner.

At seven, Uther called up to them saying dinner was ready. They all came down and sat at the table. Uther had made spaghetti for them. Arthur sat to his right and Morgana was on his left. Merlin sat beside Arthur and Gwen was beside Morgana.

"This looks delicious, Mr. Pendragon," Gwen said.

"Gwen, I told you to call me Uther. And thank you," he smiled. "So how was your day?" he asked attempting to get the conversation started.

"It was boring," Merlin said bluntly.

"Yeah, although Mr. Monmouth watched us all closely after yesterday. I guess he was scared we would start arguing in the corridor," Morgana laughed.

They all started laughing at that, even Uther. "Well, when you two start, you aren't easily stopped," he said. "You all used the pool last weekend right? I'm thinking of preparing it for winter next week, so this weekend will be your last chance to use it."

"Yes. We all went for a nice swim," Arthur smirked. "Didn't we Morgana?"

"Indeed," she glared.

"Morgana, you normally don't swim. What made you this time?" Uther asked. He knew _how _she ended up in the pool, but not _why._

"Let's just say something in the water pulled us in."

Uther looked at Merlin and Arthur. They were obviously holding hands under the table. He wanted to get them to talk.

"Arthur, there's a man at work who has a daughter the same age as you. She's very beautiful, you may like her."

"No thank you, dad," Arthur said glancing at Merlin.

"Dad, do you have anymore of this delicious garlic bread?" Morgana asked.

"Certainly. There's some in the oven. Be right back."

"Arthur," she whispered when he left the room, "I think he knows something maybe you should just tell him. I think he wants you to talk and he's trying to get it out of you."

He nodded and Uther returned. He sat the plate of garlic bread down and Morgana reached for one.

"So, anything new happening in your lives?" Uther proded.

"Well, I'm dating someone," Arthur said.

"Oh? Who is this lucky young lady?"

"Um, its not a lady. Its a bloke and he's sitting at this table."

"Merlin?" Uther asked. Both Merlin and Arthur nodded. "Finally," Uther muttered.

"What?" everyone asked at the same time.

"I said finally. I've been trying to get you to admit it during this entire meal. Arthur, there is no man at work with a daughter. Well, there are, but the one I mentioned doesn't exist."

"You mean you knew?" Arthur asked.

Uther nodded. "Not at first. I knew you kissed at least once."

"How?" Merlin asked.

"The security camera out back. It caught you two in the pool right after Morgana kissed Guinevere."

They all turned red in embarrassment.

"Oh my God," Gwen squeaked.

"Don't worry. I know the story, I talked to Hunith. And I plan on getting the camera moved just in case. I don't want you to feel like I'm spying on you. Hunith said that she trusts you and I do too. Obviously I do since I've let you stay in the house alone with Gwen and Morgana."

"Merlin," Arthur muttered, "remember when I told you the only way it could get weirder was if my dad started acting like Gwen, Morgana and your mum?" He nodded. "Well, it just officially got really weirder."

"I agree," Merlin said, nodding.

After dinner, Gwen and Merlin thanked Uther for inviting them and Arthur drove them home, Morgana came along.

"Am I the only one that was surprised at dad's reaction?" Morgana asked everyone.

"Yeah, to be honest I was expecting him to be the type that would scream in my face and threaten to disown me," Arthur said.

"Well, I was surprised that Uther had talked to my mum," Merlin said.

"When we get to your house, Merlin, you and Arthur should go in and talk to her. Morgana and I will wait in the car," Gwen said.

They agreed and when they stopped at Merlin's they got out and went in. When they were in the house, Merlin found Hunith in the kitchen.

"Mum, why are you talking to Uther about us?"

"Huh? Oh, I guess you told him then. He called and asked about it. He was pretty excited when I told him you were now 'more than friends.'"

"My father? Excited? Last time I saw it excited was when he got that prick in accounting fired for chatting up the boss' wife."

"Does this mean everyone has been secretly conspiring to get us together?" Merlin asked.

"Not _everyone _just myself, Uther, and apparently Gwen and Morgana. Uther first called me when you were thirteen. I don't remember the instance, but he thought there was something different about your friendship and I agreed. We thought you were destined to be more than that."

Merlin walked Arthur back out to the car.

"I swear, if we tell people at school and someone says 'finally,' I will be really annoyed," Merlin said.

"Me too. Well, I better get Gwen home. Talk to you tonight?" Arthur asked.

"Of course," he said. He gave Arthur a goodnight kiss only to be interrupted by squealing from the car. They stopped and glared in that direction.

"Sorry!" Gwen and Morgana both said.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry its been so long since I updates. I got caught up with writing other things :) But here it is. Lots of Hunith this chapter.**

* * *

Merlin was just laying down when he heard Arthur's video call. They talked for over an hour again until they both fell asleep.

The next day, Thursday, was normal. Gwen and Morgana showed Mr. Gaius their fliers and he told them to hang them around the school after the final lesson. Merlin and Arthur helped. Mr. Monmouth watched them closely, apparently still fearing another argument between Arthur and Morgana.

When Arthur and Merlin got to Merlin's and started their homework, Arthur said,

"I was thinking about this weekend. What if we stay here Friday night and then go to mine on Saturday. Gwen and Morgana can either stay at Gwen's the whole time or they can have the house to themselves for a night."

"What made you think about that?"

"Its just that we've been staying the night at my house a lot and your mum must be getting lonely spending whole weekends alone."

"I never thought about it. You're right. It would prove we aren't trying to be alone all the time to do anything."

"That too. So that's settled then?"

"Yeah. So, when do you want to tell people?"

"Tell people what? About us?"

"Yeah."

"Whenever you want."

"Monday?"

"That's what I was thinking. It'll be a whole week by then, so I think its a good idea," Arthur said.

After school the next day Arthur stopped by his house and he and Morgana ran in to get their overnight things. Morgana was going to stay at Gwen's the whole weekend.

He and Merlin went to Merlin's house and did their homework as quickly as possible. They didn't have much to do. Afterward, they went out back to play football, something Merlin wasn't the best at but he wasn't terrible.

That was where Hunith found them when she got home.

"So are you boys going to keep this a secret forever?" she asked.

"No," Merlin answered.

"We're going to tell people Monday," Arthur said.

"That's fantastic news," she said. "What doyou guys want for dinner?"

"I'm in the mood for something on the grill," Merlin said.

"Burgers?" Hunith asked.

"That sounds great. Merlin and I can help with it if you like," Arthur said.

They planned on enjoying the last warm weekend before autumn fully arrived. So after Hunith prepared everything, Arthur and Merlin did the grilling outside. When they were finished, they sat out on the patio and ate.

"You're going to stay at Arthur's tomorrow right?"

"Yeah," Merlin said.

"Mostly because we want to go swimming again and its out last chance," Arthur told her. "Dad is going to prepare the pool for winter next week."

Hunith didn't ask anymore questions and they went to 'play' a bit more football. Merlin managed to kick the ball and hit Arthur in the back of the head when he had his back turned. In retaliation, he tackled Merlin to the ground as if they were playing American football.

"It was an accident!" Merlin squeaked as Arthur pressed him into the grass.

"Sure it was," Arthur hissed. He ended up blowing his seriousness when he started laughing.

He and Merlin rolled around on the ground wrestling for several minutes. When they finally stood up, they were covered in dirt and grass stains. When they entered the house, Hunith started laughing at them.

"What on Earth did you two do?"

"Nothing, why?" Merlin asked.

"Well Arthur's white shirt is now green and you have grass in your hair and dirt on your face."

"We just had a little wrestling match," Arthur laughed. They went up to Merlin's room to shower and change.

After Arthur got his clothes out of his bag and Merlin pulled his from the drawer, they turned to look at each other.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Merlin whispered.

Arthur nodded and walked over to lock the door. Merlin had his own bathroom, so they took another shower together. That night they both lay in Merlin's bed talking and they finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Merlin woke up with his head on Arthur's chest. Luckily the door was still locked because he didn't fancy his mother walking in on him and Arthur shirtless in bed.

After having a quick breakfast with Hunith, they walked to the park down the road.

"What do you want to do when we go to my house?" Arthur asked as they walked.

"Well, I thought we were going swimming again?"

"Obviously, but we can't really stay in the pool the whole time unless you want to turn into a prune."

"I guess we'll just have to wait to see what we feel like doing," Merlin said smiling.

After their walk they returned to Merlin's house and gathered their things before going to Arthur's.  
_

Gwen and Morgana went to Merlin's house and knocked at the door.

"Gwen, Morgana, what a surprise," Hunith said when she opened the door. "Merlin and Arthur aren't here, they left about fifteen minutes ago."

"Good," Morgana said. "We're not here to see them, we wanted to see you."

"Come on in, I was just watching_ Downton Abbey_. Would you girls like a cup of tea or something?"

"Yes, please," Gwen said.

After making their tea, that sat in the living room with the tv's volume turned down.

"So what brings you girls to see me of all people?" Hunith asked.

"Merlin and Arthur," Gwen said.

"Yeah, we found out you were waiting like we were," Morgana told her.

"Definitely," she smiled. She told them what she told Merlin and Arthur after Uther found out.

"So you've been working with my father?"

"Not working really, just keeping each other informed. It surprised me because your father, don't tell him I said this, but he didn't seem like the type to support this sort of thing. When he first called me and asked me about them, I thought he was going to try to keep them apart. It was the complete opposite."

"That's what I said after dad got it out of Arthur."

"What about you two? Arthur told me you two kissed as well. Anything going on there?"

"What?" Gwen squeaked. She was turning red.

"Oh, no," Morgana said. "That was just something we did trying to get Arthur and Merlin to do it too. What happened was, we saw them laughing and they were obviously flirting but they didn't realise it. They did that a lot. So I told them to kiss already because the wait was killing us. They pulled us into the water and Arthur said that if we wanted to see someone kiss so bad, we should. So we did."

"Afterward, Arthur pulled Merlin to the other side of the pool and they kept talking and looking toward us. Then next thing we knew, they were kissing. We were shocked, so we barely noticed them break apart. They said something to us and went inside," Gwen finished.

"That is what did it," Morgana said. "I walked in on them later that night. It looked like they had been doing homework, but Arthur had Merlin pinned to the floor and was snogging him like they were never going to see one another again. Then after they went to sleep, I sneaked in and they were sleeping together. I took this picture." She pulled her camera out of her bag and showed the picture to Hunith.

"Aww," Hunith said.

"Is she an awesome mum or what?" Gwen asked Morgana. "Any other parent would freak out at seeing that."

"Well, I do trust them. They've been friends for so long, I don't think they are going to do anything foolish. That's why I let them go to your house alone, Morgana."

"Then the next morning, we tricked them," Gwen said.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how you would take this, so I don't think we should tell you," Morgana admitted.

"Please, you've just shown me a picture of my son asleep with his best friend's arms wrapped around him. What could possibly anger me?"

"I sabotaged Arthur's alarm clock so they thought they were late. We locked ourselves in the other bathrooms so the only one they could use was Arthur's."

"We forced them to shower together," Gwen confessed.

Hunith spat her tea back into the cup. "What?" she asked.

"Don't worry, we listened at the door the whole time, it was fine," Morgana said quickly.

"Oh, well, I guess that's better than other _things_ they could be doing,"

"Do you want to hear how Arthur asked Merlin out?" Gwen piped up trying to change the subject.

"Yes, please!" Hunith said.

"It was in the bathroom after they showered. Word for word, this is what he said: 'Do you want to, you know, try this dating thing?'"

"Did he really?" Hunith laughed. Morgana nodded.

Gwen continued, "And Merlin said, 'You're pretty shit at asking people out, you know. How did you ever get a girlfriend before?' Then Arthur asked if that meant yes."

"I forgot he had a girlfriend once," Hunith said. "Makes you wonder how he asked her."

"I don't think he did. I think she asked him," Morgana laughed. "Or at least forced herself on him. No one liked her. Her name was Vivian. I think he only dated her so that he could say he had a girlfriend. But I think she tried to use him. She was nothing but a .. I don't know a good word for her, but she made her way around with the guys."

"Merlin dated that girl, Freya, for a short time," Gwen said. "Remember? It didn't last long and Merlin wouldn't say why. Now that I think about it, I think it was because he liked Arthur. Maybe he just didn't realise."

"Well, they are good looking boys, I'm sure when they tell everyone Monday, the ladies are going to be upset," Hunith told them.

"I agree," Gwen said.

"Hold on, did you say they were going to tell everyone Monday?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, they just didn't tell us," Morgana said with a evil glint in her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

**There's some drunk Merlin and Arthur in this chapter, so... yeah. Oh and some nakedness as well and a pervy Morgana and Gwen. Mostly pervy Gwen. xD**

* * *

After they said bye to Hunith and started back up the road, Gwen said, "I didn't think they would tell so soon."

"Me either. I want to make sure they do this right. Mind if we stay at my house tomorrow night? We'll let them have tonight alone though." Gwen agreed. "Let's go to my house and spy on them. We can make them a scrapbook with secret photos of them!"

"I like the way you think, Morgana!"

The took off running up the road in the direction of the Pendragon's house. They sneaked around to the back gate and hid themselves because they knew the boys would go swimming. Moments later, they both came out of the house with towels around their waists.

* * *

After ransacking the kitchen and eating something, Merlin and Arthur headed up to Arthur's room with their stuff. Merlin was digging in his bag for his pool things when Arthur broke the silence.

"Remember what I said last Sunday before we got in the pool?"

"You said a lot of things. And before you ask, no, I won't go into Morgana's room and steal a bikini to wear."

"Well, now that you mention it," Arthur started.

"Arthur!" Merlin snarled.

"I was kidding. What else did I say?"

"You said something about making me swim naked."

"Exactly."

"What about it?" Merlin asked.

"Really, Merlin?"

"Oh! Hell yes."

"We'll take our stuff just in case though."

They wrapped towels around their waists and carried their clothes with them. They went outside and looked around just to make sure no one was there (Morgana and Gwen were well hidden.) After seeing there was no one to see them, they dropped their towels and jumped into the water.

"I can't believe we are naked, in a pool, in the middle of the day," Merlin said.

"If you're scared, you can always put something on. I'm sure Morgana's bikinis will fit you!" Arthur teased.

"I'm starting to think you want to see me in one."

"Well..."

"Not going to happen! I don't wear women's clothing, Arthur."

"All right. You can always put your shorts back on though."

"I don't think I will," Merlin smirked. "I'm not scared, I'm only saying its weird. I've never done this before."

"Neither have I. Never got the chance because of Morgana or dad being around. Besides, what's the good in doing it alone?"

* * *

Morgana and Gwen continued to watch, ducking behind the bins as Merlin and Arthur looked around. When they approached the pool, the girls sneaked closer to peek through the gate.

When they dropped the towels, Morgana gasped, "Oh my God, gross!"

"What?" Gwen asked.

"I don't want to see my brother naked! Merlin's not too bad too look at, but I can't look without seeing Arthur. But by all means, keep watching Gwen. Take the camera," Morgana said thrusting the camera into Gwen's hand.

When they heard Arthur teasing Merlin wearing one of her bikini's again she muttered, "I'd kill both of you if you even tried it."

Upon being forced by Morgana, Gwen took a lot of picture before they sneaked away and headed back to Gwen's.

* * *

A few hours later, Merlin and Arthur were in the lounge watching_ Doctor Who_ again. The episode was 'Blink.' Arthur was sitting up while Merlin had his head rested in Arthur's lap.

"This is one of the freakiest episodes ever," Merlin admitted.

"Oh, come on, its not that bad."

"The first time I watched it was in the middle of the night. Mum had gone on a weekend trip with one of her friends so I was alone. Every noise I heard had me jumping like a mad person."

"Okay, that is freaky. This one is creepy, but the worst offenders are 'Midnight,' 'The Waters of Mars,' and 'The God Complex.'

"'The God Complex' was just weird. Let's watch 'Midnight' next!" Merlin said.

When 'Blink' ended, Arthur said, "Change the dvd, I'll go get us something to drink. Want anything in particular?"

"Not really," Merlin said opening the DVD case.

The menu had just appeared when Arthur returned. He had two bottles in his hands. He handed one to Merlin.

"A beer?" Merlin frowned.

"Why not?" Arthur shrugged. "Dad has a few to spare in the kitchen."

"Remember the last time you stole beers for us? I threw up."

"We were what? Thirteen? I'm sure you can handle it now."

Merlin opened the bottle and took and sip. As soon as it touched his tongue he gagged. "That's revolting!"

"The second sip tastes a bit better. Best not think about the taste."

About ten minutes into the episode was when Arthur started in.

"That Jethro bloke looks just like you! I almost forgot about that."

"He doesn't."

"Yes he does. He's got the same sexy cheekbones as you and the cute giant ears."

"So my cheekbones are sexy and my ears are cute?"

"Is that what I said?"

"Yes."

"Then yes, yes they are."

"Thank you. You aren't so bad yourself," Merlin snorted.

"Wanna get sloshed?" Arthur suddenly blurted out. They were on their second beer.

"What?"

"God, Merlin, you can't be that stupid."

"I know what it means, but I was just making sure that's what I heard. Do people even say 'sloshed' anymore?"

"Yes, I don't know I thought it sounded cool and do you want to?"

"Will saying no stop you?"

"No?"

"All right then," Merlin sighed.

"There's not enough beers so my dad might notice if we take more than two each. But he has a lot of wines and other things we can nick. Can you pick a lock?"

"Um, yeah? Why?"

"Let's break into my dad's bedroom and take a bath. He has one of those huge tubs big enough for a few people."

"Sounds fun," Merlin smiled.

"You go pick the lock and I'll get us something else to drink."

Merlin went up to get the door open. He looked at it and figured it out. He had it open by the time Arthur showed up with a two full bottles of wine.

"Two bottles?"

"Yes, Merlin. I'm not an expert, but I don't think we can get drunk with only one bottle. I bought a second one in case."

"Um, won't Uther notice two missing?"

"No. There are like 30 bottles in there. I grabbed two from the back."

Arthur took the wine and glasses into his dad's bathroom and started the water. Then he and Merlin went back to his room to get some clothes for afterward.

When they were in the tub, Arthur uncorked one of the bottles and poured each of them a glass. They took a sip at the same time. They screwed up their faces.

"Wow, that's.." Arthur started trying to find the right word.

"Disgusting?" Merlin supplied.

"I was going to go for 'interesting,' but disgusting works too." He took another sip. "It does taste a little better after the initial shock."

"Really?" Merlin took another sip.

"No. But try not to think about it."

By the time they finished the first bottle, they were both feeling a light headed. Well, lightheaded was an understatement. They decided to take it back to Arthur's room. They had only put on their underwear before they gathered up their things and drained the tub.

"Is one bottle of wine supposed to make you feel this bad?" Merlin spluttered.

"Dunno, never had it before," Arthur responded.

They plopped down in Arthur's bedroom floor and threw the clothes they had failed to put on into a nearby chair. Arthur poured them more wine and halfway through the second bottle was all either of them remembered.

The next thing either of them remembered was being woken up with cold water thrown in their faces.

* * *

Around noon the next day, Morgana and Gwen said goodbye to Gwen's dad, Tom, and headed back to the Pendragon's. When they walked through the door, the house was completely silent. Morgana went to look in the pool, no one was out there. She noticed broken glass in the kitchen near the door.

"Arthur? Merlin?" she called.

"Its noon, they can't still be asleep," Gwen said.

"Depends on how late they were up last night and what they were doing." She smirked at the thought.

They passed Uther's bedroom on the way to Arthur's.

"Doesn't your dad normally keep his room locked when he's away?"

"Yeah," Morgana said. They went in and looked around. The bathroom was open and there was an empty wine bottle on the side of the tub. "Hmm, suspicious."

When the reached Arthur's room, her suspicions were confirmed. Arthur and Merlin were unconscious on the floor with a mostly empty wine bottle near them and two glasses, one knocked over with dried wine in the floor. And they were both in their underwear.

"Gwen, take some pictures. I'm going to get some water." She gave Gwen the camera again.

Gwen took a few pictures like Morgana demanded and then she returned with two jugs of water. She placed the camera in her bag and handed a jug to Gwen.

"On the count of three," she whispered. "One. Two. Three." She dumped her's in Arthur's face while Gwen dumped her's in Merlin's face.

* * *

Both of them shot up immediately.

"MORGANA!" Arthur yelled when his eyes found her. "What the hell was that for?"

"Just a fun little way of waking you up, brother dear," she smirked.

"Why are you two here anyway?" Merlin asked, holding his head.

"We just decided to come back," Gwen said.

"The more important questions are why are you laying in the floor? Why were you drinking? Why are you in nothing but underwear? And why were you in dad's bathroom last night?"

"We just felt like getting pissed. We passed out in the floor, obviously. We only put on our underwear after our bath in dad's bathroom. Got a problem with that?"

"No, but dad might," Morgana smirked.

"You wouldn't," Arthur said.

"No. I won't tell him and Gwen and I will even help you two clean up your mess for a small fee," she said.

"Not another one!" Merlin groaned.

"What do you want this time?" Arthur asked.

"All in good time, my dearest brother," Morgana laughed. "Gwen, be a dear and go fetch the aspirin, I'll get you boys some water."


	8. Chapter 8

**Just to let you know, if you see a * anywhere in the story, there's one in this chapter and they might appear in the future, scroll down to the bottom and there will be a note about it.**

* * *

Gwen returned with a bottle and Morgana filled one of the pitchers with water. They both took two pills and drank some water.

"Now, on to business. Put some clothes on. Gwen and I will clean up dad's bathroom and bedroom where you tracked it up with wet feet. You need to clean up that spilled wine, luckily you have wooden floors in your room. There's also broken glass in the kitchen floor and you need to get rid of your bottles."

When the girls left to go get cleaning supplies, Merlin and Arthur struggled to their feet and fought some clothes on.

"Ugh, I have a terrible taste in my mouth," Merlin whined.

"Stop being such a girl, Merlin," Arthur told him.

Arthur found their first wine bottle in the bathroom where Gwen and Morgana were cleaning, he took both of them down to the kitchen and put them in a bag. He cleaned up the smashed beer bottle in the floor and put it in the bag as well. He gathered their beer bottles from the counter and placed them in a bag as well. He took them out to the bins behind the house and hid them well.

Merlin cleaned up the spilled wine in Arthur's floor. After he was done, he took their glasses to the kitchen and washed them carefully by hand. After drying them, he placed them back in the cupboard where Uther kept them.

Upstairs, Morgana and Gwen cleaned the tub. Arthur and Merlin had spilled wine on the side of it. They took the dirty clothes and threw them back into Arthur's room and Gwen mopped the bathroom floor. After making sure it looked as it should've before the boys went in, they closed the door. Morgana mopped the bedroom floor and then they locked the door back and shut it.

"So, want to tell me how you got into dad's room?" Morgana asked. Merlin and Arthur were sitting at the kitchen counter looking awful.

"Merlin picked the lock," Arthur said. "Going to tell me what your 'fee' is?"

"Certainly.I thought we agreed that you would tell us everything." The boys just looked at one another.

"We went to have tea with Hunith yesterday after you left and she told us what your doing tomorrow. What were you planning?"

"Don't know," Arthur admitted.

"We haven't figured it out yet," Merlin grumbled.

"Hold hands when you go in and periodically give each other quick kisses throughout the day," Morgana said.

"Much easier than going around telling everyone 'hey, me and Merlin are dating,' or whatever you were probably going to come up with," Gwen said. "And we will be right there with you the whole time to back you up if someone decides to say something rude to you. You know how some people are."

"Gee, we could've thought of that on our own. And thanks, Gwen, but I'm sure I can handle anyone that says anything," Arthur said.

"That's not what I meant. I know you could, but we don't want you getting sent home for fighting someone," Gwen told him.

Merlin's stomach rumbled loudly. "When was the last time you guys ate?" Morgana asked.

"Um," Merlin said, thinking. "Yesterday afternoon."

"Would you like us to make you boys something to eat?" Gwen asked.

"Please," Arthur pleaded. Merlin nodded.

"Okay. What do you want?"

Morgana and Gwen made the four of them some sandwiches. It took a few hours for the headaches to subside.

"You know, the one thing that surprised me?" Arthur asked.

"What?" the others said.

"Merlin didn't throw up this time!" Arthur told them.

"Well, my mouth certainly tasted like it this morning though."

"What do you mean 'this time?'" asked Morgana.

"Oh, um, when we were thirteen I stole a beer and Merlin threw up after one sip. Quite embarrassing really."

"I would appreciate it if you never told anyone that," Merlin said.

Merlin and Arthur were curled up against one another on the couch. Morgana thought it was a lovely scene so she pulled out her camera and snapped another picture.

"Are you taking pictures of us?" Arthur asked.

"No?" Morgana said.

"Yes you are, I saw you. Why?" Merlin demanded.

"Its a surprise," Gwen said. "Can't tell you. You'll love it one day, but for now, don't ask questions."

"Fine," Merlin told them.

They lay in bed talking, much like they had two nights previously when they stayed at Merlin's.

"Nervous about tomorrow?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah, but not because of what we're going to do. Mostly because I know people will be staring at us and I hate people staring at me."

"So do I," Merlin said. There was a minute of silence before Merlin spoke again. "You know, I've been thinking."

"That's new." When he received a glare, he said, "so what were you thinking about?"

"Its been a week and we've really done nothing at all. We've snogged, slept in the same bed, bathed together and even swam naked. Besides that, nothing."

"We did tell you mum we wouldn't rush into anything," Arthur told him.

"I know, its just a thought."

"Sounds to me as though you're begging for something," Arthur winked.

"Not _that... _Yet."

"Then what?"

"I'm just thinking we should do something more. I not ready to... you know."

"Then what did you have in mind?" Arthur asked. Merlin whispered in his ear. "I can live with that." *****

The following morning when they got to school, they sat in the car for a few minutes trying to calm their nerves.

"You boys ready?" Morgana asked.

"I think so," Arthur said. "Merlin?"

"Yeah."

"Good, now let's go," Gwen said. "We'll be right there with you."

Slowly and nervously, they got out of the car with Morgana and Gwen. Arthur walked around the car to Merlin. He grabbed Merlin's left hand in his right but they remained rooted to the spot. Morgana handed them their bags before putting a hand on each of their backs and firmly shoving them toward the building.

Students were getting out of their own cars and walking towards the building with them. No one was really paying much attention to them.. yet. The boys remained oblivious to everything, but the girls noticed a few people pointing and smiling.

When they entered the building, that's when people started gaping. Not in an obscene way, just in shock. A few more people smiled. No one said anything though. One girl, Arthur recognised her as Vivian, the girl he dated a year ago for about a month, burst into tears and ran into the nearest loo. Not realising it was the boys' loo, she came out again and ran into the girls'.

Merlin scoffed and muttered, "Slag."

"Merlin! That is rude. She's... Actually, nevermind, that is exactly what she is," Arthur laughed.

Arthur walked Merlin to his first lesson of the day. Standing in the corridor with Gwen and Morgana beside them, Arthur gave him a quick nervous kiss after being forced by Morgana. That's when the first insult came.

One bloke walked by and loudly muttered, "Bloody poofs."

Morgana was livid. She walked up to him, grabbed him by the shoulder, shoved him into the wall and slapped him across the face two times. Once with the palm of her hand and the second with the back of her hand. He was too surprised to move, he just sank to the floor clutching his face. Or maybe it had to do with the rings on her fingers.

"Does anyone else have anything else to say about my brother and Merlin?" she asked loud enough for all in earshot to hear. Everyone stood in shock and shook their heads. She turned back to her friends to find them gaping at her. "That's taken care of. See you later Arthur, Gwen." She pulled Merlin into the classroom with her since they had that lesson together.

When it was time for lunch, Gwen forced Merlin's hand into Arthur's and shoved them into the room. They made their way to a table beside a window. They sat facing the window with their backs to everyone. Gwen and Morgana sat across from them.

Morgana pulled a sandwich for each of them out of her bag. She had taken to bringing them all food for lunch after getting sick from the school food. She claimed 'the food they serve in this dump isn't fit enough to throw in a pig pen, we're not eating it ever again.' Occasionally Gwen would bring something for them, but Morgana usually did since she was 'the boss.'

"I think you did fine this morning, guys," she told them.

"I think so too," Gwen beamed.

"Did you see Vivian?" Merlin laughed.

"Yeah. She ran into the boys loo crying!" Morgana gasped through her laughter.

"Merlin called her a slag," Arthur told them.

"Merlin! How vulgar! Very accurate," Morgana said, she had an evil glint in her eyes.

"Two more lessons, then your first day being out to everyone will be over," Gwen told them.

"I almost forgot, we have our first club meeting today," Merlin said. "I wonder if anyone else is coming."

"I hope not," Arthur said.

"Come on, you don't want to meet someone else with the same interest?" Gwen asked.

"No," Merlin, Morgana, and Arthur said at the same time.

* * *

***** **So you're wondering what Merlin whispered in Arthur's ear, right? Well, I'm trying to keep the story itself not too dirty, so anything kinda gross I'll add in a note at the bottom.. He suggested they, well to be blunt about it, wanked each other off.. There I said it.**

**I'm trying to use as much British slang as possible, since I'm American, but I love British slang.. I got the word 'slag' from Misfits. And I got 'poofs' from reading other Merthur fanfics.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Don't forget to check the * at the bottom when you get to that part of the story! They have their first club meeting in this chapter.**

* * *

They did some sort of lab in chemistry, but neither Merlin nor Arthur paid much attention. In fact, they were so confused that Merlin accidentally mixed the wrong things together and cause the mixture to foam and overflow. He dumped it in a sink and Arthur asked Morgana and Gwen for help while Mr. Gaius was preoccupied at the front of the room.

After finishing with the assignment, Arthur took to touching Merlin's leg. He ended up grabbing _something else_, causing Merlin to take a sharp breath. Finally the bell rang and everyone left. Mr. Gaius left the room to see the headmaster before the meeting started.

"I'll be right back, Morgana, Gwen, I have to go pee," Merlin told them. He started toward the door.

"So do I," Arthur said.

"Sure you do," Morgana smirked. "Enjoy your 'pee.'" She and Gwen burst into giggles.

Merlin and Arthur practically ran to the nearest toilet and walked into the largest cubicle at the end of the row and locked the door behind them. They started snogging and running their hands over each other. Afterward, they took their 'pee,' which was definitely _not _a pee, naturally, before heading back to the girls.

Mr. Gaius still wasn't back.

"You boys must've had to really _pee_," Morgana teased.

"Yeah, you know, you have those really long ones from time to time," Merlin blushed.

"So since when does taking a pee involve ruffled hair, wrinkled clothes, and one of those?" Gwen said pointing out another mark on Merlin's neck.

"Damn it, why does that keep happening?" Merlin asked. "Arthur never gets them."

"Because you don't bite hard enough," Arthur said poking Merlin in the side causing him to wiggle.

Arthur was surprised when Merlin grabbed him and bit his neck. "It seems Merlin has turned into a vampire," Morgana said.

"What the hell, Merlin!" Arthur groaned. "You're not supposed to rip flesh away. I think he's a zombie actually."

"I guess we'll see," Gwen said. "If you start biting people like that as well, we'll have to run."

Just then Mr. Gaius walked in. "Sorry that took so long. The headmaster needed me present to talk to students who misbehaved in my class this morning. Arthur, are you all right? Your neck is bleeding."

"Ah, yes," Arthur turned red. "I'm fine. I just nicked myself on the neck somehow." Gwen, Merlin, and Morgana all started giggling uncontrollably.

"If you say so," Mr Gaius said. "So, since its just us, what do you want to do during these meetings?"

"We haven't really thought about it," Morgana admitted.

"Well, I have a few suggestions," Mr. Gaius told them. "If you want to hear them."

"Of course we would," Arthur said.

"We could discuss the differences between some of the legends since there are many accounts of them. I also have something I'd like to show you."

"What do you want to show us?" Gwen asked.

"All in good time, my dear," Gaius said. "I'm not finished. There is a medieval fair happening in a few weeks, I think it would be great if you all went and then if you are up to it, I can tell you about places that are involved in the legends and you can visit them and we'll talk about it."

"I think we can agree those are great ideas,' Merlin said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I've heard about some of the places associated with the legends and I've always wanted to go see them," Morgana said.

"So what did you want to show us?" Gwen asked again.

"First, you must promise to not tell anyone yet. I will tell you how I found it one day, but not now. We have much to talk about before I do. This is what I wanted to show you," he said pulling out a large leather bound book. It looked ancient.

"What's in it?" Arthur asked.

"This is an account of the legends that has not been read about in living memory. As I said, I'll tell you where I got it soon, now is not the time though."

"Who wrote it?" Morgana asked.

"The same person credited with writing other accounts of the legends. Geoffrey of Monmouth," Gaius said.

"Can we read it?" Merlin asked.

"Certainly. Look at it now if you wish."

Gwen opened the book and they started to look through it. The first page was noted as a prophecy.

"A prophecy?" Gwen asked.

"Yes. In this account, Arthur's mother was killed by magic causing his father, Uther, to turn against it. He banned magic and killed and destroyed anyone or anything magical. Long before this happened, the birth of the most powerful warlock to ever live, Emrys, was prophecised. He was destined to protect Arthur while Arthur fulfilled his own destiny. His destiny was to unite the land of Albion and bring magic back to the land after his father outlawed it."

"Albion? That's just some old word for Great Britain isn't it?" Merlin asked.

"Yes. If you continue to look through the book, you'll see the many ways Emrys, who was Merlin, saved Arthur's life."

"Wasn't Merlin some old man though?" Arthur asked. "This makes it sound as though he was young."

"He was a few years younger than Arthur in this account. According to this, he saved Arthur's life not long after arriving in Camelot and King Uther made him Prince Arthur's personal servant."

"Servant? Merlin was a servant? That can't be right!" Morgana said.

"I know what you mean, but it so happens that Guinevere was also a servant but she and Arthur fell in love. Uther wouldn't allow their marriage and charged her with enchanting the prince. After Uther's death, they married and she became Queen."

"Then she messed around with Lancelot and then ran away with him," Gwen said.

"No. Not in this. Here, Lancelot died before Guinevere and Arthur married."

"What about Morgan le Fay?" Morgana asked.

"In this variation, she does not go by that name. Her name is Morgana. Uther betrayed his wife and friend Gorlois by having an affair with Vivienne resulting in the birth of Morgana. Uther allowed everyone to believe she was Gorlois' daughter. He was killed in battle and she lived in Camelot with Uther as his ward. She was practically Arthur's sister and Uther's daughter during this time although none of them but Uther knew the truth.

"She suffered from nightmares, which were visions of the future and she developed magical abilities. She was terrified and she eventually joined forces with her sister Morgause and made numerous attempts to kill Uther. When she discovered she was Uther's daughter, she tried to kill Arthur and take the throne for herself."

"What of Mordred?" Arthur asked. "Did he cause Arthur's death?"

"Yes, ultimately. Before you ask, no he was not the son of Arthur and Morgana. He was a druid who was avoiding capture by Uther. Merlin, Morgana, and Arthur broke him out of Camelot. Eventually he formed an alliance with Morgana after she turned against Camelot and the result was the Battle of Camlann."

They talked about numerous other things until it was later than they expected.

"Remember what I told you, tell no one of this yet. I promise to tell more about this though. Its an interesting tale."

The week passed slowly. Arthur and Merlin took their relationship to the next step late in the week when Hunith was still at work and they were in Merlin's room again.*** **Morgana did not have to slap anyone else and if anyone had anything bad to say about Merlin and Arthur, they kept it to themselves.

At the next meeting, they looked at Mr. Gaius' book a bit more.

"So if magic was illegal, did Arthur make it legal again when he became king?" Arthur asked.

"No. Not right away. After a few years, he found out about Merlin's magic and since Merlin was such a close friend, he allowed Merlin to tell him everything before jumping to conclusions. He accepted Merlin as he was. According to this, he was angry, but it passed. Merlin was pelted with a lot of rotten vegetables because he lied for so long."

"Why is the handwriting near the end of this book different than the rest?" Merlin observed.

"That is because it was written by someone else. Geoffrey of Monmouth died before finishing it so another person promised to complete it for him."

"Who?" they asked.

"Merlin."

"What?" Merlin asked thinking Gaius was talking to him.

"No, not you. _The _Merlin."

"Impossible. He wasn't real," Gwen said.

"I know it sounds far-fetched, but you'll find out eventually," Gaius told them.

"Why are you being so secretive?" Morgana asked suspiciously.

"I promise, you will find out in due time. I honestly can not tell you yet. Now, moving on, remember I mentioned the medieval fair last week?"

"Yeah," they said.

"Its this weekend and I thought you all might enjoy it because its very close to the time period these legends take place in."

"This weekend is Arthur's birthday," Morgana pointed out.

"Then going will have to be my birthday present," Arthur said.

"Mine too," Merlin said. His birthday was a week after Arthur's.

"We'll just have to make sure Uther knows," Gwen said. "You wouldn't want him to plan a party and you not be there."

"Not if we go Saturday. Arthur's birthday is Sunday," Morgana said.

"Dad knows I hate parties anyway," Arthur responded.

"Where is the fair?" Merlin asked Gaius.

They all cleared it with their parents and they stayed at Arthur and Morgana's Friday night. They were spending the whole day at the fair and it was a two hour drive to get there. They could've taken a train, but Morgana refused to get on one because they made her 'train sick,' or so she claimed. She was really good at getting her way.

* * *

***Let's just say there was some sucking involved in the next step of the relationship.. If you know what I mean.**

**Gaius' secretiveness will be answered sometime in the future. Also, the idea of the medieval fair for Arthur's birthday just came to me. To be honest, I'd love to go to something like that on my birthday, so naturally I made it so Arthur and Merlin would love it too.. Something special happens there though.**

**The idea for Merlin and Arthur's birthdays being a week apart was inspired by me and my ex best friend. His birthday is six days before mine. **


End file.
